Million Mom March

The Million Mom March was a rally held on Mother's Day, May 14, 2000 in the Washington, D.C. National Mall by the Million Mom March organization to call for stricter gun control.{{cite news |last=Dionne |first=E.J. |date=May 16, 2000|title=Because they say so |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XbNRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rW8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6763,4360791&dq=million-mom-march&hl=en |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=January 22, 2013 }} The march reportedly drew an estimated attendance of 500,000 to 750,000 people at the D.C. location, however, "The Park Police estimated turnout for that event at 300,000."{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Jack |date=May 21, 2000 |title=A muddled mom march |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/forum/20000521edkelly6.asp |type=Opinion |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=January 22, 2013 }} Including 150,000 to 200,000 people{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} holding satellite events in more than 70 cities across the country, the total number of participants was about one million.{{cite magazine |last=Gibson |first=Megan |date=August 12, 2011 |title=The Million Mom March |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2088114_2087975_2087974,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813194120/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2088114_2087975_2087974,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2011 |magazine=Time |accessdate=January 22, 2013}}{{cite news|title=Minnesotans Joined and Estimated 750,000 in Washington, D.C., on Mother's Day to Draw Attentionto Gun Violence|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PD&s_site=twincities&p_multi=SP&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB739BB87F2DD20&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=January 22, 2013|newspaper=St. Paul Pioneer Press|date=May 15, 2000}}

A counter-rally by the pro-firearm Second Amendment Sisters, was also held on the same day and drew approximately 2,500 people.{{cite news|title=Opposing Women Gird For Million Mom March|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q_ohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b6MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1177,7216964&dq=million-mom-march+second+amendment+sisters&hl=en|accessdate=January 22, 2013|newspaper=Reading Eagle|date=May 14, 2000}}

History

The Million Mom March began as a grassroots movement sparked by Donna Dees-Thomases after she viewed broadcast coverage of the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting in Granada Hills, California.{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=Ellen |date=May 5, 2000 |title=Idealism fuels Million Mom March |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0fZHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7e0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5710,1423027&dq=million-mom-march+turnout&hl=en |newspaper=Deseret News |accessdate=January 22, 2013}} In October 1999, she and several Tri-State activists from the New York metropolitan area held a news conference in Manhattan, where they announced their intent to march in Washington.{{cite news |last=James |first=George |date=October 31, 1999 |title=Politics and Government; Mothers Hope They're One in a Million |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/31/nyregion/politics-and-government-mothers-hope-they-re-one-in-a-million.html |newspaper=New York Times |accessdate=January 22, 2013}} The march was held on May 14, 2000 to coincide with Mother's Day, with the organization reporting a turnout of 750,000 supporters. Following the event the organization became chapter-based and merged with the victim-led pro-gun control group Bell Campaign.{{cite news |last=Deam |first=Jenny |date=September 5, 2000 |title=Million Mom March modeled after MADD |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DP&p_theme=dp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF458985BAC26D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |newspaper=Denver Post |accessdate=January 22, 2013}} In 2001 the Million Mom March organization merged with the Brady Campaign.{{cite news |last=Fuoco |first=Linda Wilson |date=July 24, 2002 |title=What happened to Million Mom chapter? |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=reRRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6208,3210545&dq=million-mom-march+election&hl=en |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=January 22, 2013}}{{cite web |author= |year=2015 |title=About Us: Million Mom March |url=http://www.bradycampaign.org/about-us-million-mom-march |publisher=Brady Campaign |accessdate=January 30, 2015}}{{cite web |author= |date=May 6, 2010 |title=A Decade Later, Million Mom March Endures As a Force to Save Lives |url=https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/05/06-15 |type=Press release |website=Common Dreams }}

On the anniversary of the first march, more than 100 rallies were held across the nation calling for stricter gun laws at the state level. In New York, Republican Governor George Pataki joined Democratic U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton in a show of support for stricter gun laws.{{cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Adam |date=May 10, 2000 |title=Mrs. Clinton Backs Gun-Control Initiatives |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/10/nyregion/mrs-clinton-backs-gun-control-initiatives.html |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=January 30, 2015}} Turnouts to the second Washington march and to further marches were diminished, with the 2001 march on Washington reporting about 200 in attendance.{{cite news|title=Reprise by anti-gun moms falls far short|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2001/may/14/20010514-023015-2746r/|accessdate=22 January 2013|newspaper=Washington Times|date=May 14, 2001}}{{cite book|last=Payne|first=Elizabeth Anne|title=Writing Women's History|year=2011|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1617031731|pages=172–195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZO_BYwOK0UC&dq=%22Million+Mom+March%22&pg=PA194}} The group did not plan demonstrations in Washington in 2002 or 2003, instead focusing its efforts in the states.{{cite news|title=Million Mom March comes up a bit short|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MN&p_theme=mn&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=108E79C1D0729DA9&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=22 January 2013|newspaper=Star Tribune|date=March 16, 2005}}

Debate

Gun rights advocates have routinely challenged the Million Mom March on its use of statistics on child gun casualties{{cite news |date=May 21, 2000 |title=Dueling Statistics on Gun Control, Both Sides Misfire |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB714F3943C2E99&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |type=Editorial |accessdate=January 22, 2013 |newspaper=San Jose Mercury News }}{{cite news|title=Moms to march on misinformation|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB08BE3B83F2A78&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=January 22, 2013|newspaper=Washington Times|date=May 7, 2000}} with individuals and organizations on both sides of the gun debate either verifying or criticizing the group's data.{{cite news|title=Ignores the Evidence|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PG&p_theme=pg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADE3E3512ED570&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=January 22, 2013|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=May 31, 2000}}{{cite news |last=Paulson |first=Amy |date=May 8, 2000 |title='Million Mom March' organizers hope to spur congressional action on gun legislation |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2000-05-08/politics/million.mom_1_gun-safety-gun-violence-gun-buyers?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS |publisher=CNN |accessdate=January 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818012255/http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/05/08/million.mom/index.html |archive-date=August 18, 2000 }} In 2004, Wendy McElroy estimated that only 5,732 children under the age of 17 died in gun related deaths, "or roughly 40 percent of what MMM asserts."{{cite news |last=McElroy |first=Wendy |date=March 3, 2004 |title=Do Gun Control Activists Pad Gun Death Statistics? |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/do-gun-control-activists-pad-gun-death-statistics/ |publisher=FoxNews.com |access-date=January 30, 2015}}

An investigation by The New York Times reported that the incidence of accidental child firearm deaths occur "roughly twice as often as the records indicate" due to idiosyncrasies in how authorities in various states classify these incidents.{{cite news |last1=Luo |first1=Michael |last2=McIntire |first2=Mike |date=September 28, 2013 |title=Children and Guns: The Hidden Toll |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/children-and-guns-the-hidden-toll.html?hp&_r=2& |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=28 September 2013}} The report also asserted that the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups utilize the lower statistics in order to lobby against more restrictive gun laws.